


The Queen is Wild and Sated

by AuroraWakes



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: F/M, Resolved Sexual Tension, Romantic Angst, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:34:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25812163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraWakes/pseuds/AuroraWakes
Summary: It is months after Cardan has returned to his true form. While Jude had hoped their relationship would progress, it has instead stalled.  A night of wanderings, admissions, and promises may change that.Sequel to The King Waits.Set post Queen of Nothing with a small touch of a/u.
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar
Comments: 26
Kudos: 209
Collections: favorite on TFOTA





	The Queen is Wild and Sated

**Author's Note:**

> **I am, of course, the true queen of nothing - meaning, I don't own these characters or the lovely world they inhabit. They all belong to Milady Black.

Jude startled awake, her blood hot, lightheaded, breathless.

 _Again_.

The dream is so persistent, it returned so often, and yet the moment she recognizes it as a dream it starts to slip away. His hand skimming her waist. His skin warm against hers. His dark eyes wanting, wanting, wanting. His breath as fast as hers. Her body is responding in kind to the dream even as it trickles away. Jude reaches down as her body pulses. Her folds are slick. She makes quick work.

It is fast, desperate. And when she climaxes, it is of relief. But then…always…she has to keep going. Once is never enough. When Jude works herself like this, she has to come at least two or three times before truly feeling a release. And even then, it was not enough.

She is never _satisfied_. Her body, and if she was honest, her heart and soul as well, simply want Cardan, and everything else was a poor echo. It never abated.

When Cardan had returned to true form those months ago, everything at court was so riotous. The return, the punishments, her coronation – it had all been a whirlwind. Everyone seemed pleased, maybe even joyous, to ride out the roller coaster for weeks. During that time, Jude and Cardan had been delicate with one another. Emotions were tender and loving but there was a shyness and seeming reluctance to the physical side of their relationship. She was still new to everything, he was recovering from a trauma.

She had hoped he would come to her at night, that he would ask her to move into his rooms. As he healed, as she grew more bold in her mind, she would keep thinking, _Maybe tonight..._ Instead, the caresses became more hesitant, fewer and farther between. They ruled the kingdom well together, were generally respectful and kind to one another and the kingdom, plotting and scheming when it was required. But, between them...there was a lack.

And then the dreams started. The first few times she would just lie awake, wanting. And then she couldn’t. If this was to be her life, she would make the best of it. She experimented, she found what suited her. It was never what she wanted, but it was enough. She had achieved so much more with her life than she had originally hoped for herself, it felt wrong to want more.

On nights like these, after she is done, she wanders the halls of the court, reminding herself that what she settled for was still far more than any human had achieved before her. Often she ended up in the kitchens. She taught a few of the workers how to make chocolate chip cookies after a servant had wandered into the kitchens while she was baking them one night, creating too much of a racket. They were a human indulgence that she had missed and were now quite popular at court with their novelty. The thought made her smile. She hoped tonight there were some in the crystalline jar that usually sat in the middle of a long prep table in the kitchen.

Barefoot and in her nightgown, Jude walked down memorized halls, through the stocked pantries, and into the residual warmth of the kitchen. There was the jar. She found a plate and cup, put several cookies on her plate, and found the milk (one thing that had not taken off in court, but servants still stocked it. Their human queen was a bit odd, but they accepted it).

‘Wife.’ Jude startled and looked around. There, across the room, he is sitting in the dark at a table. Cardan strikes a match and lights a nearby candle, the candlestick it was sitting in caked with the wax drippings of hundreds of candles before.

‘Oh!’ she is caught off guard, mostly by the fact that she is in fact caught off guard. It is unlike her, and she internally scolds herself, blaming her exhaustion, endless petty court distractions, and lagging training. ‘I’m sorry…I’ll be out of here in a minute. I didn’t mean to disturb…’

‘Don’t let me chase you off.’ Cardan says quietly, amused. She can see very little with her mortal eyes, despite the candle. His beautiful long fingers, the outlines of his clothes, but his face remains in shadow. She bristles internally with the implication that he could scare her. Which, _he can_ , but he shouldn’t be made to think it.

‘All right then. I will join you.’ She accepts the slight challenge. She balances the plate and the milk and pads over to the table. The glass on the opposing side, her side, and the plate in the middle, offering the cookies silently. He takes one, just holding it.

She can hear the sigh, but she waits.

‘So it is true what they say,’ his voice is low.

‘And what do they say?’ she asks. _What now?_ The courtiers always had something to say. And she did have more than enough secrets. It could be anything. It was probably nothing.

‘The queen wanders at night in her nightclothes.’ He sounds somehow both amused and serious. He brings the cookie up, she hears a bite, and only sees the outline of his mouth, then hears slow chewing.

‘It is obviously true.’ She thinks it absurd that the court cares that she wanders the halls. _Such little minds…_

‘They say…’ his voice is lower than before. He swallows and takes a breath. ‘They say the queen is wild and… sated.’

 _Oh god._ Everyone at court was talking about her wandering around, in her nightgown, hair ridiculously mussed, making it obvious that she was alone and _not with the king._ Her absence from the king’s bed. And… _sated_. That was especially embarrassing. And here he was…worrying that it was a reflection on him. He cared that it was shameful _to him_. She had no idea if she was more embarrassed for herself or mad at him.

‘It is true.’ She grates out, admitting her humanity to him.

The silence is long. So long. It stretches. She wants to be that person who is nonchalant. That knows and vocalizes a truth, declaring that self-pleasure is normal, healthy, to be confident about it. Someone who cares little for what petty minds believe on such matters. But she can’t quite say it. It is still too new to her to feel that confidence yet.

Her king sits back. Farther into the dark. ‘I had thought…..No,’ he shakes his head. He has become so hesitant. ‘I had hoped…that after I returned to this form… that we would continue…’ his words are so soft, so low. ‘To…’ He stops.

Another sigh. The cookie is placed on the table. She has no idea what to say.

He starts again. ‘I think of that night often. I wonder what I should have done differently. Should I have touched you more gently? Less? Should I have taken the lead more? Why did we not at least use the comfort of the bed? I should never have told you about my ridiculous imaginings...Perhaps we should not have at all...was it simply too soon?’ He sounds pained.

She hears the words and feels immediately struck. Wounded that he would change a night so precious to her. So incredibly perfect in her mind and yet here he was, altering it, rewriting it, _erasing_ it. This, at last, she has something to comment on. Even though she feels it will cost her, she leans forward, and looks at the outline of his face, searching for dark eyes. ‘I would change nothing. Nothing.’ Her voice is firm and clear.

His hand clenches. A sharp intake of breath from him. ‘I see.’

 _There_ , she has put herself in his hands. Thankfully, he understands now. He must.

And yet…he stands.

‘When…no, _if_ …you tire of your current lover, I would beseech you to consider me before you move on to someone else.’ He is so formal, but his voice is thick. It is a request that a subject would make of their sovereign. He pauses, slightly bows, and starts to walk to the door.

She is shocked, speechless. And quickly, so quickly, the pieces start to fall into place. The conversation, her actions, his implications, all clarify with a completely different lens.

‘No!’ she gets up, and he continues to walk. ‘Cardan, wait!’ And yet he walks more quickly. She runs after him, grabbing his arm. ‘Cardan, _**STOP!**_ ’ And he finally does, without turning towards her.

‘I have no lover.’ She says breathlessly.

‘Do not lie,’ he hisses.

She tried again. ‘There is no one.’

His words are so sharp, clipped, slightly louder, but begging. ‘Do. Not. _Lie_. To. Me.’

‘I am not, I swear.’ She tries to get him to turn to her, but he will not give.

‘Jude, please, I am begging you. I will deny you nothing. You do not have to worry about consequences. I will take whatever part of you that you are willing to give. But, please, do not lie. I cannot bear it. I cannot take the ache of it, knowing you give more to someone else while hiding one more thing from me.’ And he finally turns to her, his face in a small beam of light. And she can see the glassy eyes, a track of tears, the pain in his face. She sucks in a breath.

‘I have no lover.’ She says again, softly.

‘ "The queen is wild…and sated." ‘ He whispers, repeating the words of the courtiers of Elfhame that torture him.

‘The queen is wild.’ She admits. ‘But she is far from sated.’

‘But... I can smell your desire, even now. I can…almost…see it in the air.’ Jude flushes, something deep inside her clenches, and she feels another rush at his recognition of it in her. Her flesh prickles in a fine sweat. _With only his words,_ his recognition of her need, she is ready once again. She exhales sharply.

His mouth falls open, swaying slightly. His eyelids droop. ‘Oh, _Elders_. Jude. It is intoxicating.’ He groans softly, his eyes flutter. But he moves to go, ‘I cannot endure it.’

She stops him again, firmly.

‘It is for you.’ She says softly, gazing downward. ‘It is….by my own hand.’

He looks confused. She hates that she has to spell out human things. It is moments like these that it is clear how different they are. Faerie rarely masturbate. Maybe when they are young, just coming into what counts as puberty for them, but for such a short while that it is considered child’s play. It is a society that is unashamed and free and treats arousal as something social. Why would one be alone when they could so easily be with someone else? For faerie, denial was rare, but there was worth in the exquisiteness of it. It was sheer indulgence or agonizing denial. Halfway was unheard of in Elfhame.

‘I want you. But I have not had you. And so, I satisfy myself. Alone. The queen is wild…and _wanting_.’

His eyes search out her face. She knows he is searching in all the dark corners for deception. And it takes forever. She waits on the edge of what feels like a vast chasm. She can tell he wants to believe her. Finally, she softly brings her hand from his sleeve to his fingers, intertwining them. ‘Cardan,’ she whispers. ‘Please.’

He nods slowly, trying to accept it, wanting so badly for it to be true. ‘Jude,’ his other hand comes up to her face, his fingers touch her cheek. The gentlest caress. ‘May I…?’ He leans in, but still waits for her. She thinks she feels his fingers tremble.

She moves to close the space more quickly, and she softly brushes his lips. The air is charged. And suddenly a dam breaks. His fingers move from her cheek to behind her neck pulling her closer, angling her just right. His lips crush hers. He may swallow her whole. His body is taut when he presses against her, and she can feel the heat radiating from his muscles. Everything is on fire. Of course he has been able to read her desire; why has she not been able to read his?

She reaches for his breeches, trying to undo the buttons. Her fingers are frantic. His lips can barely leave her mouth for a moment, and both of them fumble endlessly. His tongue entwines hers and she is sure that if this is all they have, this will be enough for her to finish when she next has to imagine him there.

Finally, he finishes the last button and yanks them off, then reaching over his head to pull off his tunic. While she looks at him as he disrobes, shadows and contrasts in the moonlight, she aches. As she takes him in, she catches his gaze. They both are breathing like they have been training hard for hours.

Then the moment snaps and they crash into one another again. He groans loudly against her, and she whimpers against him. His fingers grasp her nightgown, pulling it up, bunching it against her waist. He backs her into the counter and Jude feels the ledge hard against her back. He leans forward and kisses her ear, her jaw, her cheek, her nose, all the while his other hand making the agonizing path from her knee, up her thigh, and finally, he touches her core. They both moan deeply at the contact.

‘Jude...’ He grates out. His fingers just touch the outside and she is dripping. She reaches her hand down to wrap around him, hard and velvet soft, protruding and reaching for her. She needs this like nothing she has needed before. The king whines at the feel of her fingers around him but it brings him to consciousness.

‘Wait!’ Cardan tears himself away from her.

Jude is dazed, dizzy, hardly able to focus. His breathing would be worrisome if she wasn’t an echo of it. ‘I need…we cannot…here...’ he pants.

 _Was he kidding?_ He was the king. No one was here, and even if they were, no one in the court would protest or look down on them for indulging right there. She was the shyer of the two. The lust between them demanded satisfaction, almost visible it was so thick. ‘Why not?’

‘Jude, please, I need to know this isn’t just tonight. It will be so much realer in one of our rooms.’ His breath was slowing. He was asking something important of her and she had no idea what it was, and she barely cares. Barely, but she does care.

‘Cardan,’ she explains to him. ‘I want you. It has been torture without you. I ache all the time. I have no idea how to stop wanting you.’

This honesty will be enough. It must be. She reaches for him again, but he backs away a half step. Rolling her eyes, she stares at him, willing him back to her. But the king is resolute.

Finally, she caves.

‘Fine. My rooms?’ she asks. He nods.

She grabs his arm and drags him along, the heart-achingly beautiful king being led naked in full arousal down the hall by an annoyed, severely disheveled queen. That is what they would say later. That would be on the lips of the court the next day.

They stumble down the halls, his hand touching her hair, her waist, turning her for a kiss that they both melt into before he urges her to keep going.

At last, she opens her door, pulls him inside, and slams it. The second they are inside he sweeps her up and her back is pushed hard up against the door. She can feel the length of him against her core and sighs. He is so hard, so hot, and her sex pulses at it, through the last layer of material. Jude tugs her nightgown off and reaches down once again to his cock. He pulls her off the door.

‘No,’ he pants. ‘I would have you properly or not at all.’ _When did her husband become so traditional?_ Jude was busy flirting with madness over here and Cardan was setting the scene properly.

They stumble to the bed and when she climbs onto it and moves towards the middle, Jude realizes he is not with her. Looking back, she sees Cardan staring at her, a sheen of sweat on his lovely moon beam skin.

‘What?’ she asks him when she sees an odd look on his face.

‘Did you really…address yourself?’ he asks.

She puzzled at the phrase and then realizes what he meant.

‘Oh… yes.’ If this is what he needs, she will give it to him. ‘I had to. It was all I thought about when I saw you, when I dreamt of you. I have _hated_ you for it.’ She sees him shiver at her admission. ‘I couldn’t shake the want, but there were many a night I tried. But not tonight.’ He keeps looking at her oddly. And then Jude worries she may have read it all wrong. ‘Right?...Not tonight?...’

‘Oh my love,’ he promises. ‘You will always have me. But I want to watch first.’

‘What?’ she asked, confused.

‘I want to watch you touch yourself. I want to know what you know about what your body wants.’ She is once again speechless. Apparently, he is less traditional than she’d briefly thought.

Her body clenches with the thought, but… ‘But I am so ready for you. This is what I think of…’ Jude gestures around- meaning them, naked, a rumbled bed, both of them aching. 'When I…'

Cardan’s eyes somehow darken even further, but his face remains resolute. ‘Jude- _please_.’

And she cannot deny him anything. The months apart from his touch have worn her down. She nods and begins to lie back. He licks his lips.

‘Tell me everything.’ She can see now that she is the banquet to the starving man in front of her. Again, she nods. She closes her eyes.

And she begins. ‘First, I think of your face when you asked me to kiss you… _until you were sick of it_. So enthralled, disgusted, begging for relief. ’ Her left hand reaches up to caress her breast. Soft circular squeezes. Her right hand traveled to her sex. She was so wet. Dripping. She can hear his breath, harder and faster than before. She whines, and has to keep going.

‘And then, when I asked you to charm Nicassia. I remember your fingers here,’ she rubs along the outside of her opening, and the blood within her is like river rapids after a hard rain. ‘Oh…’ She dips her fingers in further, once, twice, so coated that when she pulls them out of her it feels like honey. Cardan comes closer to her.

He looks every inch the dangerous faerie his is, ready to devour her; he runs his tongue along his bottom lip. She looks down and his cock is leaking, pre-cum glistening. She squeezes her legs together at the sight. At her husband, in heat, for her. And then she opens again. In and out, slowly. And her thumb starts to circle her clit.

‘And our first time. So fast, so urgent.’ She can barely talk now. The spring is tightening, she can feel it coming. Her fingers in and out, her thumb twirling. And she is so close. So close. So close… She can feel tears prick her eyes. ‘Please, Cardan, please...’ she is begging and it is shameless but her blood is pumping so hot and hard she can think of nothing else. She is so close... but so far away.

She feels him gently touch her wrist and her eyes open. ‘Jude. Now?’ She nods frantically.

He sinks between her legs, gently pulling aside her hand, his warm breath on her. Then he dips down to lick her core from her opening to her clit. Jude’s back arches. Again. She feels a tremble. Again. She feels the quiver turning into a shake. And as he licks her, she watches him. The sight of it, him, _there_.

Suddenly, she comes so hard and sharp her back arches up and she turns partially away. Her body is wracked. ‘Cardan’ she moans. ‘Oh yes…. _Yes_ ….’ an incoherent mumble before her whole body and mind and soul are poured over the edge into oblivion. The sweat trickles down her body. Her breath will never come back. Her mind will never reform. She knows it.

And then she starts to come down. He is looking at her in reverence.

And yet, he is still. He is waiting for her. She reaches down behind his head and pulls him up to her, looking deep into his eyes, pools of darkness that one could drown in. ‘Cardan,’ her voice trembles but her eyes are steady. ‘I need you…inside me… _now_.’ And she will not be made to wait any longer.

Cardan nods, and he positions himself at her opening. Jude urges him on, hips undulating. He starts to slide into her and it is the most beautiful agony. He groans so deeply the sound hums through her body.

The tears prickle again behind her eyes and he notices. His hand brushes a piece of wild, tangled hair from her face. He fills her so completely. Her vision shimmers with the intensity of it.

‘Jude,’ his voice shakes. She can tell he is on the edge. ‘Promise me… _promise me_ …it is not the last time. It cannot be.’

‘Cardan, it is not the last time.’ She swears, and then echoes him. ‘It cannot be.’

His forehead touches hers and she can feel his relief. There, that is done. She looks are him hard, unwavering, and she commands him. ‘ _Do not deny me._ ’

He sucks in a breath at the words. And then his body starts to move. Slowly, an undulation that satisfies and leaves her wanting at the same time. Her body arches. He grips her hip so hard she knows there will be a mark and relishes it. Her fire meets his and their hearts hammer so hard the castle shutters with it. He moves faster, and she can see the prickles of sweat bead and start to slowly trickle down his neck.

His strain, his strength, around her is more than she had ever been able to conjure on her own. He only looks away from her eyes to look down, to see them joined, and when he sees himself plunging into her, again, and again, and again, he grips the sheets under her desperately, letting out a combination of wanton groan and begging whine.

Time stretches and bends. It could go on forever if it were not so good.

She could never imagine anything like this. She inhales him. He is everywhere, inside her, around her.

‘Jude…’ he grinds out. ‘I am so close…’ But he cannot slow down. He can only move faster, harder.

She can feel him so deeply inside her it almost hurts. Almost.

She takes, and takes, and takes, and he gives, and gives, and gives, and they both revel in their own role.

Jude is shaking, her vision blacking at the corners, and can’t possibly voice anything. She nods and the obscene noises she is making intensify. Her fingers claw at his back and Cardan hisses in response.

And then, again, the coiled spring releases and she cries out, loud and echoing, squeezing him tightly. A moment afterwards, she hears a roar from him. She feels him emptying into her with his thrusts.

She is overheated as she comes down, but cannot bear for him to withdraw just yet.

And he seems of similar mind. ‘I love you,’ he whispers as he looks down at her. ‘I cannot live without this. I will not.’

It is a promise and a plea. Jude nods.

‘Yes,’ she says simply. And then she smiles at him. ‘The queen is wild and sated… _by the king_.'


End file.
